The first people to inhabit the area now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia and before that from southeast Asia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago.[34] However, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Western Sydney's gravel sediments that were dated from 45,000 to 50,000 years BP, which would indicate that there was human settlement in Sydney earlier than thought.[35]

The first meeting between the native people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula and encountered the Gweagal clan.[36][37][38] He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors.[36] Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement. He spent a short time collecting food and conducting scientific observations before continuing further north along the east coast of Australia and claiming the new land he had discovered for Britain. Prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans.[39]

The earliest British settlers called the natives Eora people. "Eora" is the term the indigenous population used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is "from this place".[40]Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan.[39] The principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the indigenous people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells, and cooking fish.[36]

Captain Philip led the First Fleet of 11 ships and about 850 convicts into Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, though deemed the location unsuitable due to poor soil and a lack of fresh water. He travelled a short way further north and arrived at Port Jackson on 26 January 1788.[41][42] This was to be the location for the new colony. Phillip described Sydney Cove as being "without exception the finest harbour in the world". The colony was at first to be titled "New Albion", after Albion in Great Britain, but Phillip decided on "Sydney".[43] The official proclamation and naming of the colony happened on 7 February 1788. Lieutenant William Dawes produced a town plan in 1790 but it was ignored by the colony's leaders. Sydney's layout today reflects this lack of planning.[44]

Between 1788 and 1792, 3,546 male and 766 female convicts were landed at Sydney—many "professional criminals" with few of the skills required for the establishment of a colony. The food situation reached crisis point in 1790. Early efforts at agriculture were fraught and supplies from overseas were scarce. From 1791 on, however, the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of trade lessened the feeling of isolation and improved supplies.[45]

The colony was not founded on the principles of freedom and prosperity. Maps from this time show no prison buildings; the punishment for convicts was transportation rather than incarceration, but serious offences were penalised by flogging and hanging.[46] Phillip sent exploratory missions in search of better soils and fixed on the Parramatta region as a promising area for expansion and moved many of the convicts from late 1788 to establish a small township, which became the main centre of the colony's economic life, leaving Sydney Cove only as an important port and focus of social life. Poor equipment and unfamiliar soils and climate continued to hamper the expansion of farming from Farm Cove to Parramatta and Toongabbie, but a building programme, assisted by convict labour, advanced steadily.[47]

Officers and convicts alike faced starvation as supplies ran low and little could be cultivated from the land.[48] The region's indigenous population was also suffering. It is estimated that half of the native people in Sydney died during the smallpox epidemic of 1789.[39][49] Enlightened for his age, Phillip's personal intent was to establish harmonious relations with local Aboriginal people and try to reform as well as discipline the convicts of the colony. Phillip and several of his officers—most notably Watkin Tench—left behind journals and accounts of which tell of immense hardships during the first years of settlement.[50] Part of Macquarie's effort to transform the colony was his authorisation for convicts to re-enter society as free citizens.[50] Roads, bridges, wharves, and public buildings were constructed using convict labour and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, and well-established thoroughfares. Parramatta Road was opened in 1811, which is one of Sydney's oldest roads and Australia's first highway between two cities – Sydney CBD and Parramatta.[51]

Conditions in the colony were not conducive to the development of a thriving new metropolis, but the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of maritime trade (such as wool) helped to lessen the burden of isolation.[46] Between 1788 and 1792, convicts and their jailers made up the majority of the population; in one generation, however, a population of emancipated convicts who could be granted land began to grow. These people pioneered Sydney's private sector economy and were later joined by soldiers whose military service had expired, and later still by free settlers who began arriving from Britain. Governor Phillip departed the colony for England on 11 December 1792, with the new settlement having survived near starvation and immense isolation for four years.[52]

Early Sydney was molded by the hardship suffered by early settlers. In the early years, drought and disease caused widespread problems, but the situation soon improved. The military colonial government was reliant on the army, the New South Wales Corps. Macquarie served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social and economic development of Sydney which saw it transition from a penal colony to a budding free society. He established public works, a bank, churches, and charitable institutions and sought good relations with the Aborigines.

Over the course of the 19th-century Sydney established many of its major cultural institutions. Governor Lachlan Macquarie's vision for Sydney included the construction of grand public buildings and institutions fit for a colonial capital. Macquarie Street began to take shape as a ceremonial thoroughfare of grand buildings. The year 1840 was the final year of convict transportation to Sydney, which by this time had a population of 35,000.[41][46] Gold was discovered in the colony in 1851 and with it came thousands of people seeking to make money.[41][57] Sydney's population reached 200,000 by 1871. Demand for infrastructure to support the growing population and subsequent economic activity led to massive improvements to the city's railway and port systems throughout the 1850s and 1860s.[58]

Under the reign of Queen Victoria federation of the six colonies occurred on 1 January 1901. Sydney, with a population of 481,000, then became the state capital of New South Wales. The Great Depression of the 1930s had a severe effect on Sydney's economy, as it did with most cities throughout the industrial world. For much of the 1930s up to one in three breadwinners was unemployed.[63] Construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge served to alleviate some of the effects of the economic downturn by employing 1,400 men between 1924 and 1932.[64] The population continued to boom despite the Depression, having reached 1 million in 1925.[58]

When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, Australia too entered. During the war Sydney experienced a surge in industrial development to meet the needs of a wartime economy. Far from mass unemployment, there were now labour shortages and women becoming active in male roles. Sydney's harbour was attacked by the Japanese in May and June 1942 with a direct attack from Japanese submarines with some loss of life.[65] Households throughout the city had built air raid shelters and performed drills. Sydney saw a surge in industrial development to meet the needs of a war economy, and also the elimination of unemployment. Labour shortages forced the government to accept women in more active roles in war work.

Martin Place, now a busy pedestrian mall, pictured in 1968 when it was open to traffic.

Consequently, Sydney experienced population growth and increased cultural diversification throughout the post-war period. The people of Sydney warmly welcomed Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 when the reigning monarch stepped onto Australian soil for the first time to commence her Australian Royal Tour.[66] Having arrived on the Royal Yacht Britannia through Sydney Heads, Her Majesty came ashore at Farm Cove. There were 1.7 million people living in Sydney at 1950 and almost 3 million by 1975. The Australian government launched a large scale multicultural immigration program.

New industries such as information technology, education, financial services and the arts have risen. Sydney's iconic Opera House was opened in 1973 by Her Majesty. A new skyline of concrete and steel skyscrapers swept away much of the old lowrise and often sandstone skyline of the city in the 1960s and 1970s, with Australia Square being the tallest building in Sydney from its completion in 1967 until 1976 and is also notable for being the first skyscraper in Australia.[67] Since the 1970s Sydney has undergone a rapid economic and social transformation. As a result, the city has become a cosmopolitan melting pot.

Sydney is a coastal basin with the Tasman Sea to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north, and the Woronora Plateau to the south. The inner city measures 25 square kilometres (10 square miles), the Greater Sydney region covers 12,367 square kilometres (4,775 square miles), and the city's urban area is 1,687 square kilometres (651 square miles) in size.[69][70][71]

Sydney spans two geographic regions. The Cumberland Plain lies to the south and west of the Harbour and is relatively flat. The Hornsby Plateau is located to the north and is dissected by steep valleys. The flat areas of the south were the first to be developed as the city grew. It was not until the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge that the northern reaches of the coast became more heavily populated. Seventy beaches can be found along its coastline with Bondi Beach being one of the most famous.

The Nepean River wraps around the western edge of the city and becomes the Hawkesbury River before reaching Broken Bay. Most of Sydney's water storages can be found on tributaries of the Nepean River. The Parramatta River is mostly industrial and drains a large area of Sydney's western suburbs into Port Jackson. The southern parts of the city are drained by the Georges River and the Cooks River into Botany Bay.

Sydney is made up of mostly Triassic rock with some recent igneous dykes and volcanic necks. The Sydney Basin was formed when the Earth's crust expanded, subsided, and filled with sediment in the early Triassic period.[72] The sand that was to become the sandstone of today was washed there by rivers from the south and northwest, and laid down between 360 and 200 million years ago. The sandstone has shale lenses and fossil riverbeds.[72]

The Sydney Basin bioregion includes coastal features of cliffs, beaches, and estuaries. Deep river valleys known as rias were carved during the Triassic period in the Hawkesbury sandstone of the coastal region where Sydney now lies. The rising sea level between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago flooded the rias to form estuaries and deep harbours.[72]Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria.[73]

Under the Köppen–Geiger classification, Sydney has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa)[82] with warm summers, cool winters and uniform rainfall throughout the year.[83] At Sydney's primary weather station at Observatory Hill, extreme temperatures have ranged from 45.8 °C (114.4 °F) on 18 January 2013 to 2.1 °C (35.8 °F) on 22 June 1932.[84][85][86] An average of 14.9 days a year have temperatures at or above 30 °C (86 °F) in the central business district (CBD).[87] In contrast, the metropolitan area averages between 35 and 65 days, depending on the suburb.[88] The highest minimum temperature recorded at Observatory Hill is 27.6 °C (82 °F), in February 2011 while the lowest maximum temperature is 7.7 °C (46 °F), recorded in July 1868.[87]

The weather is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and more extreme temperatures are recorded in the inland western suburbs.[87] Sydney experiences an urban heat island effect.[89] This makes certain parts of the city more vulnerable to extreme heat, including coastal suburbs.[89][90] In late spring and summer, temperatures over 35 °C (95 °F) are not uncommon,[91] though hot, dry conditions are usually ended by a southerly buster.[92] This powerful storm brings gale winds and rapid fall in temperature, followed by brief heavy rain and thunder.[93] The far-western suburbs, which border the Blue Mountains, experience a Föhn-like wind in the warm months that originates from the Central Tablelands.[94][95] Due to the inland location, frost at night is recorded in Western Sydney a few times in winter. Autumn and spring are the transitional seasons, with spring showing a larger temperature variation than autumn.[96]

The rainfall has a moderate to low variability and it is spread through the months, but is slightly higher during the first half of the year.[87][97] From 1990–1999, Sydney received around 20 thunderstorms per year.[98] In late autumn and winter, east coast lows may bring large amounts of rainfall, especially in the CBD.[99] In spring and summer, black nor'easters are usually the cause of heavy rain events.[100] Depending on the wind direction, summer weather may be humid or dry, with the late summer/autumn period having a higher average humidity and dewpoints than late spring/early summer. In summer, most rain falls from thunderstorms and in winter from cold fronts.[101] Snowfall was last reported in the Sydney City area in 1836, while a fall of graupel, or soft hail, mistaken by many for snow, in July 2008, has raised the possibility that the 1836 event was not snow, either.[102]

The city is rarely affected by cyclones, although remnants of ex-cyclones do affect the city. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation plays an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on the one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation. Many areas of the city bordering bushland have experienced bushfires, these tend to occur during the spring and summer. The city is also prone to severe storms. One such storm was the 1999 hailstorm, which produced massive hailstones up to 9 cm (3.5 in) in diameter.[103]

The CBD extends about 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) south from Sydney Cove. It is bordered by Farm Cove within the Royal Botanic Garden to the east and Darling Harbour to the west. Suburbs surrounding the CBD include Woolloomooloo and Potts Point to the east, Surry Hills and Darlinghurst to the south, Pyrmont and Ultimo to the west, and Millers Point and The Rocks to the north. Most of these suburbs measure less than 1 square kilometre (0.4 square miles) in area. The Sydney CBD is characterised by considerably narrow streets and thoroughfares, created in its convict beginnings in the 18th century.[113]

There is a long trend of gentrification amongst Sydney's inner suburbs. Pyrmont located on the harbour was redeveloped from a centre of shipping and international trade to an area of high density housing, tourist accommodation, and gambling.[115] Originally located well outside of the city, Darlinghurst is the location of a former gaol, manufacturing, and mixed housing. It had a period when it was known as an area of prostitution. The terrace style housing has largely been retained and Darlinghurst has undergone significant gentrification since the 1980s.[116][117][118]

Green Square is a former industrial area of Waterloo which is undergoing urban renewal worth $8 billion. On the city harbour edge the historic suburb and wharves of Millers Point are being built up as the new area of Barangaroo. The enforced rehousing of local residents due to the Millers Point/Barangaroo development has caused significant controversy despite the $6 billion worth of economic activity it is expected to generate.[119][120] The suburb of Paddington is a well known suburb for its streets of restored terrace houses, Victoria Barracks, and shopping including the weekly Oxford Street markets.[121]

They include some of the most affluent and advantaged areas in the country, with some streets being amongst the most expensive in the world. Wolseley Road, in Point Piper, has a top price of $20,900 per square metre, making it the ninth-most expensive street in the world.[126] More than 75% of neighbourhoods in the Electoral District of Wentworth fall under the top decile of SEIFA advantage, making it the least disadvantaged area in the country.[127]

Construction is underway for the CBD and South East Light Rail line. Although main construction was due to complete in 2018, completion has potentially been delayed to March 2020.[131] The project aims to provide reliable and high-capacity tram services to residents in the City and South-East.

The suburb of Cronulla in southern Sydney is close to Royal National Park, Australia's oldest national park. Hurstville, a large suburb with a multitude of commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings dominating the skyline, has become a CBD for the southern suburbs.[132]

The North Shore includes the commercial centres of North Sydney and Chatswood. North Sydney itself consists of a large commercial centre, with its own business centre, which contains the second largest concentration of high-rise buildings in Sydney, after the CBD. North Sydney is dominated by advertising, marketing businesses and associated trades, with many large corporations holding office in the region.

The Northern Beaches area includes Manly, one of Sydney's most popular holiday destinations for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Northern Beaches area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the entrance of Broken Bay. The 2011 Australian census found the Northern Beaches to be the most white and mono-ethnic district in Australia, contrasting with its more-diverse neighbours, the North Shore and the Central Coast.[136]

The Hills district generally refers to the suburbs in north-western Sydney including the local government areas of The Hills Shire, parts of the City of Parramatta Council and Hornsby Shire. Actual suburbs and localities that are considered to be in the Hills District can be somewhat amorphous and variable. For example, the Hills District Historical Society restricts its definition to the Hills Shire local government area, yet its study area extends from Parramatta to the Hawkesbury. The region is so named for its characteristically comparatively hilly topography as the Cumberland Plain lifts up, joining the Hornsby Plateau. Several of its suburbs also have 'Hills' in their names, such as Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill, Seven Hills, Pendle Hill, Beaumont Hills, and Winston Hills, among others. Windsor and Old Windsor Roads are historic roads in Australia, as they are the second and third roads, respectively, laid in the colony.[137]

The greater western suburbs encompasses the areas of Parramatta, the sixth largest business district in Australia, settled the same year as the harbour-side colony,[138]Bankstown, Liverpool, Penrith, and Fairfield. Covering 5,800 square kilometres (2,200 sq mi) and having an estimated resident population as at 30 June 2008 of 1,665,673, western Sydney has the most multicultural suburbs in the country. The population is predominantly of a working class background, with major employment in the heavy industries and vocational trade.[139]

Further to the southwest is the region of Macarthur and the city of Campbelltown, a significant population centre until the 1990s considered a region separate to Sydney proper. Macarthur Square, a shopping complex in Campbelltown, become one of the largest shopping complexes in Sydney.[150] The southwest also features Bankstown Reservoir, the oldest elevated reservoir constructed in reinforced concrete that is still in use and is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.[151] The southwest is home to one of Sydney's oldest trees, the Bland Oak, which was planted in the 1840s by William Bland in the suburb of Carramar.[152]

The earliest structures in the colony were built to the bare minimum of standards. Upon his appointment, Governor Lachlan Macquarie set ambitious targets for the architectural design of new construction projects. The city now has a world heritage listed building, several national heritage listed buildings, and dozens of Commonwealth heritage listed buildings as evidence of the survival of Macquarie's ideals.[153][154][155]

The Great Depression had a tangible influence on Sydney's architecture. New structures became more restrained with far less ornamentation than was common before the 1930s. The most notable architectural feat of this period is the Harbour Bridge. Its steel arch was designed by John Bradfield and completed in 1932. A total of 39,000 tonnes of structural steel span the 503 metres (1,650 feet) between Milsons Point and Dawes Point.[64][172]

The atrium of 1 Bligh Street, an example of Sydney's contemporary architecture

Modern and International architecture came to Sydney from the 1940s. Since its completion in 1973 the city's Opera House has become a World Heritage Site and one of the world's most renowned pieces of Modern design. It was conceived by Jørn Utzon with contributions from Peter Hall, Lionel Todd, and David Littlemore. Utzon was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2003 for his work on the Opera House.[173] Sydney is home to Australia's first building by renowned Canadian architect Frank Gehry, the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building (2015), based on the design of a tree house. An entrance from The Goods Line–a pedestrian pathway and former railway line–is located on the eastern border of the site.

Sydney's first tower was Culwulla Chambers on the corner of King Street and Castlereagh Street which topped out at 50 metres (160 feet). With the lifting of height restrictions in the 1960s there came a surge of high-rise construction.[174] Acclaimed architects such as Jean Nouvel, Harry Seidler, Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, and Frank Gehry have each made their own contribution to the city's skyline.

Sydney real estate prices are some of the most expensive in the world, surpassing both New York City and Paris.[184][185] There were 1.76 million dwellings in Sydney in 2016 including 925,000 (57%) detached houses, 227,000 (14%) semi-detached terrace houses and 456,000 (28%) units and apartments.[186] Whilst terrace houses are common in the inner city areas, it is detached houses that dominate the landscape in the outer suburbs.

Due to environmental and economic pressures there has been a noted trend towards denser housing. There was a 30% increase in the number of apartments in Sydney between 1996 and 2006.[187] Public housing in Sydney is managed by the Government of New South Wales.[188] Suburbs with large concentrations of public housing include Claymore, Macquarie Fields, Waterloo, and Mount Druitt. The Government has announced plans to sell nearly 300 historic public housing properties in the harbourside neighbourhoods of Millers Point, Gloucester Street, and The Rocks.[189]

Sydney is one of the most expensive real estate markets globally. It is only second to Hong Kong with the average property costing 14 times the annual Sydney salary as of December 2016.[190] A range of heritage housing styles can be found throughout Sydney. Terrace houses are found in the inner suburbs such as Paddington, The Rocks, Potts Point and Balmain–many of which have been the subject of gentrification.[191][192] These terraces, particularly those in suburbs such as The Rocks, were historically home to Sydney's miners and labourers. In the present day, terrace houses now make up some of the most valuable real estate in the city.[193]

The Royal Botanic Garden is the most important green space in the Sydney region, hosting both scientific and leisure activities.[195] There are 15 separate parks under the administration of the City of Sydney.[196] Parks within the city centre include Hyde Park, The Domain and Prince Alfred Park.

The largest park in the Sydney metropolitan area is Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, established in 1894 with an area of 15,400 hectares (59 square miles).[198] It is regarded for its well-preserved records of indigenous habitation and more than 800 rock engravings, cave drawings and middens have been located in the park.[199]

The area now known as The Domain was set aside by Governor Arthur Phillip in 1788 as his private reserve.[200] Under the orders of Macquarie the land to the immediate north of The Domain became the Royal Botanic Garden in 1816. This makes them the oldest botanic garden in Australia.[200] The Gardens are not just a place for exploration and relaxation, but also for scientific research with herbarium collections, a library and laboratories.[201] The two parks have a total area of 64 hectares (0.2 square miles) with 8,900 individual plant species and receive over 3.5 million annual visits.[202]

To the south of The Domain is Hyde Park, the oldest public parkland in Australia which measures 16.2 hectares (0.1 square miles) in area.[203] Its location was used for both relaxation and the grazing of animals from the earliest days of the colony.[204] Macquarie dedicated it in 1810 for the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town" and named it in honour of the original Hyde Park in London.

Researchers from Loughborough University have ranked Sydney amongst the top ten world cities that are highly integrated into the global economy.[205] The Global Economic Power Index ranks Sydney number eleven in the world.[206] The Global Cities Index recognises it as number fourteen in the world based on global engagement.[207]

The prevailing economic theory in effect during early colonial days was mercantilism, as it was throughout most of Western Europe.[208] The economy struggled at first due to difficulties in cultivating the land and the lack of a stable monetary system. Governor Lachlan Macquarie solved the second problem by creating two coins from every Spanish silver dollar in circulation.[208] The economy was clearly capitalist in nature by the 1840s as the proportion of free settlers increased, the maritime and wool industries flourished, and the powers of the East India Company were curtailed.[208]

Wheat, gold, and other minerals became additional export industries towards the end of the 1800s.[208] Significant capital began to flow into the city from the 1870s to finance roads, railways, bridges, docks, courthouses, schools and hospitals. Protectionist policies after federation allowed for the creation of a manufacturing industry which became the city's largest employer by the 1920s.[208] These same policies helped to relieve the effects of the Great Depression during which the unemployment rate in New South Wales reached as high as 32%.[208] From the 1960s onwards Parramatta gained recognition as the city's second CBD and finance and tourism became major industries and sources of employment.[208]

Sydney's nominal gross domestic product was AU$400.9 billion and AU$80,000 per capita[209] in 2015.[210][25] Its gross domestic product was AU$337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia.[210] The Financial and Insurance Services industry accounts for 18.1% of gross product and is ahead of Professional Services with 9% and Manufacturing with 7.2%. In addition to Financial Services and Tourism, the Creative and Technology sectors are focus industries for the City of Sydney and represented 9% and 11% of its economic output in 2012.[211][212]

There were 451,000 businesses based in Sydney in 2011, including 48% of the top 500 companies in Australia and two-thirds of the regional headquarters of multinational corporations.[213] Global companies are attracted to the city in part because its time zone spans the closing of business in North America and the opening of business in Europe. Most foreign companies in Sydney maintain significant sales and service functions but comparably less production, research, and development capabilities.[214] There are 283 multinational companies with regional offices in Sydney.[215]

Sydney has been ranked between the fifteenth and the fifth most expensive city in the world and is the most expensive city in Australia.[217] To compensate, workers receive the seventh highest wage levels of any city in the world.[217] Sydney's residents possess the highest purchasing power of any city after Zürich.[217] Working residents of Sydney work an average of 1,846 hours per annum with 15 days of leave.[217]

The labour force of Greater Sydney Region in 2016 was 2,272,722 with a participation rate of 61.6%.[218] It was made up of 61.2% full-time workers, 30.9% part-time workers, and 6.0% unemployed individuals.[186][219] The largest reported occupations are professionals, clerical and administrative workers, managers, technicians and trades workers, and community and personal service workers.[186] The largest industries by employment across Greater Sydney are Health Care and Social Assistance with 11.6%, Professional Services with 9.8%, Retail Trade with 9.3%, Construction with 8.2%, Education and Training with 8.0%, Accommodation and Food Services 6.7%, and Financial and Insurance Services with 6.6%.[3] The Professional Services and Financial and Insurance Services industries account for 25.4% of employment within the City of Sydney.[220]

In 2016, 57.6% of working age residents had a total weekly income of less than $1,000 and 14.4% had a total weekly income of $1,750 or more.[221] The median weekly income for the same period was $719 for individuals, $1,988 for families, and $1,750 for household.[222]

Unemployment in the City of Sydney averaged 4.6% for the decade to 2013, much lower than the current rate of unemployment in Western Sydney of 7.3%.[25][223] Western Sydney continues to struggle to create jobs to meet its population growth despite the development of commercial centres like Parramatta. Each day about 200,000 commuters travel from Western Sydney to the CBD and suburbs in the east and north of the city.[223]

Home ownership in Sydney was less common than renting prior to the Second World War but this trend has since reversed.[187] Median house prices have increased by an average of 8.6% per annum since 1970.[224][225] The median house price in Sydney in March 2014 was $630,000.[226] The primary cause for rising prices is the increasing cost of land which made up 32% of house prices in 1977 compared to 60% in 2002.[187] 31.6% of dwellings in Sydney are rented, 30.4% are owned outright and 34.8% are owned with a mortgage.[186] 11.8% of mortgagees in 2011 had monthly loan repayments of less than $1,000 and 82.9% had monthly repayments of $1,000 or more.[3] 44.9% of renters for the same period had weekly rent of less than $350 whilst 51.7% had weekly rent of $350 or more. The median weekly rent in Sydney is $450.[3]

Macquarie gave a charter in 1817 to form the first bank in Australia, the Bank of New South Wales.[227] New private banks opened throughout the 1800s but the financial system was unstable. Bank collapses were a frequent occurrence and a crisis point was reached in 1893 when 12 banks failed.[227]

The Bank of New South Wales exists to this day as Westpac.[228] The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was formed in Sydney in 1911 and began to issue notes backed by the resources of the nation. It was replaced in this role in 1959 by the Reserve Bank of Australia which is also based in Sydney.[227] The Australian Securities Exchange began operating in 1987 and with a market capitalisation of $1.6 trillion is now one of the ten largest exchanges in the world.[229]

The Financial and Insurance Services industry now constitutes 43% of the economic product of the City of Sydney.[24] Sydney makes up half of Australia's finance sector and has been promoted by consecutive Commonwealth Governments as Asia Pacific's leading financial centre.[22][23]Structured finance was pioneered in Sydney and the city is a leading hub for asset management firms.[230] In the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index, Sydney was ranked as having the eighth most competitive financial center in the world.[231]

Sydney has been a manufacturing city since the protectionist policies of the 1920s. By 1961 the industry accounted for 39% of all employment and by 1970 over 30% of all Australian manufacturing jobs were in Sydney.[234] Its status has declined in more recent decades, making up 12.6% of employment in 2001 and 8.5% in 2011.[3][234] Between 1970 and 1985 there was a loss of 180,000 manufacturing jobs.[234] The city is still the largest manufacturing centre in Australia. Its manufacturing output of $21.7 billion in 2013 was greater than that of Melbourne with $18.9 billion.[235] Observers have noted Sydney's focus on the domestic market and high-tech manufacturing as reasons for its resilience against the high Australian dollar of the early 2010s.[235]

Sydney is a gateway to Australia for many international visitors. It has hosted over 2.8 million international visitors in 2013, or nearly half of all international visits to Australia. These visitors spent 59 million nights in the city and a total of $5.9 billion.[29] The countries of origin in descending order were China, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, and India.[236]

The city also received 8.3 million domestic overnight visitors in 2013 who spent a total of $6 billion.[236] 26,700 workers in the City of Sydney were directly employed by tourism in 2011.[237] There were 480,000 visitors and 27,500 people staying overnight each day in 2012.[237] On average, the tourism industry contributes $36 million to the city's economy per day.[237]

Sydney is the highest ranking city in the world for international students. More than 50,000 international students study at the city's universities and a further 50,000 study at its vocational and English language schools.[207][242] International education contributes $1.6 billion to the local economy and creates demand for 4,000 local jobs each year.[243]

The population of Sydney in 1788 was less than 1,000.[245] With convict transportation it almost tripled in ten years to 2,953.[246] For each decade since 1961 the population has increased by more than 250,000.[247] Sydney's population at the time of the 2011 census was 4,391,674.[186] It has been forecast that the population will grow to between 8 and 8.9 million by 2061.[248] Despite this increase, the Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts that Melbourne will replace Sydney as Australia's most populous city by 2053.[249] The four most densely populated suburbs in Australia are located in Sydney with each having more than 13,000 residents per square kilometre (33,700 residents per square mile).[250]

The median age of Sydney residents is 36 and 12.9% of people are 65 or older.[186] The married population accounts for 49.7% of Sydney whilst 34.7% of people have never been married.[186] 48.9% of families are couples with children, 33.5% are couples without children, and 15.7% are single-parent families.[186] 32.5% of people in Sydney speak a language other than English at home with Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Greek the most widely spoken.[15][186]

There were 54,746 people of indigenous heritage living in Sydney in 2011.[186] Most immigrants to Sydney between 1840 and 1930 were British, Irish or Chinese. There were significant clusters of people based on nationality or religion throughout the history of Sydney development. In the early 20th century Irish people were centred in Surry Hills, the Scottish in Paddington.

Sydney's largest ancestry groups are English, Australian, Irish, Chinese and Scottish.[186] Foreign countries of birth with the greatest representation are England, China, India, New Zealand and Vietnam.[186] The concentration of immigrants in Sydney, relative to the rest of Australia (excluding Melbourne), make it the exception rather than the norm on having such a high overseas-born population.

The indigenous people of Sydney held totemic beliefs known as "dreamings". Governor Lachlan Macquarie made an effort to found a culture of formal religion throughout the early settlement and ordered the construction of churches such as St Matthew's, St Luke's, St James's, and St Andrew's.[291] According to 2011 census, these and other religious institutions have contributed to the education and health of Sydney's residents over time. 28.3% identify themselves as Catholic, whilst 17.6% practice no religion, 16.1% are Anglican, 4.7% are Muslim, 4.2% are Eastern Orthodox, 4.1% are Buddhist, 2.6% are Hindu, and 0.9% are Jewish.[3][186]

Sydney's earliest migrants brought with them a passion for sport but were restricted by the lack of facilities and equipment. The first organised sports were boxing, wrestling, and horse racing from 1810 in Hyde Park.[302] Horse racing remains popular to this day and events such as the Golden Slipper Stakes attract widespread attention. The first cricket club was formed in 1826 and matches were played within Hyde Park throughout the 1830s and 1840s.[302] Cricket is a favoured sport in summer and big matches have been held at the Sydney Cricket Ground since 1878. The New South Wales Blues compete in the Sheffield Shield league and the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder contest the national Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

Women were first allowed to participate in recreational swimming when separate baths were opened at Woolloomooloo Bay in the 1830s. From being illegal at the beginning of the century, sea bathing gained immense popularity during the early 1900s and the first surf lifesaving club was established at Bondi Beach.[302][303]Disputes about appropriate clothing for surf bathing surfaced from time to time and concerned men as well as women. The City2Surf is an annual 14-kilometre (8.7-mile) running race from the CBD to Bondi Beach and has been held since 1971. In 2010, 80,000 runners participated which made it the largest run of its kind in the world.[304]

Sailing races have been held on Sydney Harbour since 1827.[305] Yachting has been popular amongst wealthier residents since the 1840s and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron was founded in 1862. The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is a 1,170-kilometre (727-mile) event that starts from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.[306] Since its inception in 1945 it has been recognised as one of the most difficult yacht races in the world.[307] Six sailors died and 71 vessels of the fleet of 115 failed to finish in the 1998 edition.[308]

The Royal Sydney Golf Club is based in Rose Bay and since its opening in 1893 has hosted the Australian Open on 13 occasions.[302]Royal Randwick Racecourse opened in 1833 and holds several major cups throughout the year.[309] Sydney benefitted from the construction of significant sporting infrastructure in preparation for its hosting of the 2000 Summer Olympics. Sydney Olympic Park accommodates athletics, aquatics, tennis, hockey, archery, baseball, cycling, equestrian, and rowing facilities. It also includes the high capacity Stadium Australia used for rugby, soccer, and Australian rules football. Sydney Football Stadium was completed in 1988 and is used for rugby and soccer matches. Sydney Cricket Ground was opened in 1878 and is used for both cricket and Australian rules football fixtures.[302]

During early colonial times the presiding Governor and his military shared absolute control over the population.[42] This lack of democracy eventually became unacceptable for the colony's growing number of free settlers. The first indications of a proper legal system emerged with the passing of a Charter of Justice in 1814. It established three new courts, including the Supreme Court, and dictated that English law was to be followed.[311] In 1823 the British Parliament passed an act to create the Legislative Council in New South Wales and give the Supreme Court the right of review over new legislation.[312] From 1828 all of the common laws in force in England were to be applied in New South Wales wherever it was appropriate.[312] Another act from the British Parliament in 1842 provided for members of the Council to be elected for the first time.[312]

The Constitution Act of 1855 gave New South Wales a bicameral government. The existing Legislative Council became the upper house and a new body called the Legislative Assembly was formed to be the lower house.[313] An Executive Council was introduced and constituted five members of the Legislative Assembly and the Governor.[314] It became responsible for advising the ruling Governor on matters related to the administration of the state. The colonial settlements elsewhere on the continent eventually seceded from New South Wales and formed their own governments. Tasmania separated in 1825, Victoria did so in 1850, and Queensland followed in 1859.[313] With the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 the status of local governments across Sydney was formalised and they became separate institutions from the state of New South Wales.[315]

Public activities such as main roads, traffic control, public transport, policing, education, and major infrastructure projects are controlled by the New South Wales Government.[322] It has tended to resist attempts to amalgamate Sydney's more populated local government areas as merged councils could pose a threat to its governmental power.[323] Established in 1842, the City of Sydney is one such local government area and includes the CBD and some adjoining inner suburbs.[324] It is responsible for fostering development in the local area, providing local services (waste collection and recycling, libraries, parks, sporting facilities), representing and promoting the interests of residents, supporting organisations that target the local community, and attracting and providing infrastructure for commerce, tourism, and industry.[325] The City of Sydney is led by an elected Council and Lord Mayor who has in the past been treated as a representative of the entire city.[326]

Education became a proper focus for the colony from the 1870s when public schools began to form and schooling became compulsory.[328] The population of Sydney is now highly educated. 90% of working age residents have completed some schooling and 57% have completed the highest level of school.[3] 1,390,703 people were enrolled in an educational institution in 2011 with 45.1% of these attending school and 16.5% studying at a university.[186] Undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications are held by 22.5% of working age Sydney residents and 40.2% of working age residents of the City of Sydney.[3][329] The most common fields of tertiary qualification are commerce (22.8%), engineering (13.4%), society and culture (10.8%), health (7.8%), and education (6.6%).[3]

Sydney has public, denominational, and independent schools. 7.8% of Sydney residents are attending primary school and 6.4% are enrolled in secondary school.[330] There are 935 public preschool, primary, and secondary schools in Sydney that are administered by the New South Wales Department of Education.[331] 14 of the 17 selective secondary schools in New South Wales are based in Sydney.[332]

The first hospital in the new colony was a collection of tents at The Rocks. Many of the convicts that survived the trip from England continued to suffer from dysentery, smallpox, scurvy, and typhoid. Healthcare facilities remained hopelessly inadequate despite the arrival of a prefabricated hospital with the Second Fleet and the construction of brand new hospitals at Parramatta, Windsor, and Liverpool in the 1790s.[333]

Governor Lachlan Macquarie arranged for the construction of Sydney Hospital and saw it completed in 1816.[333] Parts of the facility have been repurposed for use as Parliament House but the hospital itself still operates to this day. The city's first emergency department was established at Sydney Hospital in 1870. Demand for emergency medical care increased from 1895 with the introduction of an ambulance service.[333] The Sydney Hospital also housed Australia's first teaching facility for nurses, the Nightingale Wing, established with the input of Florence Nightingale in 1868.[334]

The motor vehicle, more than any other factor, has determined the pattern of Sydney's urban development since World War II.[344] The growth of low density housing in the city's outer suburbs has made car ownership necessary for hundreds of thousands of households. The percentage of trips taken by car has increased from 13% in 1947 to 50% in 1960 and to 70% in 1971.[344] The most important roads in Sydney were the nine Metroads, including the 110-kilometre (68-mile) Sydney Orbital Network. Widespread criticism over Sydney's reliance on sprawling road networks, as well as the motor vehicle, have stemmed largely from proponents of mass public transport and high density housing.[345][346][347] On an international scale, Sydney was ranked at 51 out of 100 cities in the world for sustainability and effectiveness of public transport in a report by Arcadis–lagging behind Brisbane, but ahead of both Melbourne and Perth.[348][349]

There can be up to 350,000 cars using Sydney's roads simultaneously during peak hour, leading to significant traffic congestion.[344] 84.9% of Sydney households own a motor vehicle and 46.5% own two or more.[186]Car dependency is high in Sydney–of people that travel to work, 58.4% use a car, 9.1% catch a train, 5.2% take a bus, and 4.1% walk.[186] In contrast, only 25.2% of working residents in the City of Sydney use a car, whilst 15.8% take a train, 13.3% use a bus, and 25.3% walk.[350] With a rate of 26.3%, Sydney has the highest utilisation of public transport for travel to work of any Australian capital city.[351]

Sydney once had one of the largest tram networks in the world. It was the second largest in the British Empire, after London, with routes covering 291 kilometres (181 miles). The internal combustion engine made buses more flexible than trams and consequently more popular, leading to the progressive closure of the tram network with the final tram operating in 1961.[344] From 1930 there were 612 buses across Sydney carrying 90 million passengers per annum.[352]

Bus services today are conducted by a mixture of Government and private operators. In areas previously serviced by trams the government State Transit Authority operates, in other areas, there are private (albeit part funded by the state government) operators. Integrated tickets called Opal cards operate on both government and private bus routes. State Transit alone operated a fleet of 2,169 buses and serviced over 160 million passengers during 2014. In total, nearly 225 million boardings were recorded across the bus network [355]NightRide is a nightly bus service that operate between midnight and 5am, also replacing trains for most of this period.

At the time the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932, the city's ferry service was the largest in the world.[365] Patronage declined from 37 million passengers in 1945 to 11 million in 1963 but has recovered somewhat in recent years.[344] From its hub at Circular Quay the ferry network extends from Manly to Parramatta.[365]Sydney Airport, officially "Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport", is located in the inner southern suburb of Mascot with two of the runways going into Botany Bay. It services 46 international and 23 domestic destinations.[32] As the busiest airport in Australia it handled 37.9 million passengers in 2013 and 530,000 tonnes of freight in 2011.[32]

It has been announced that a new facility named Western Sydney Airport will be constructed at Badgerys Creek from 2016 at a cost of $2.5 billion.[366]Bankstown Airport is Sydney's second busiest airport, and serves general aviation, charter and some scheduled cargo flights. Bankstown is also the fourth busiest airport in Australia by number of aircraft movements.[367]Port Botany has surpassed Port Jackson as the city's major shipping port. Cruise ship terminals are located at Sydney Cove and White Bay.

As climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution have become a major issue for Australia, Sydney has in the past been criticised for its lack of focus on reducing pollution, cutting back on emissions and maintaining water quality.[368] Since 1995, there have been significant developments in the analysis of air pollution in the Sydney metropolitan region. The development led to the release of the Metropolitan Air Quality Scheme (MAQS), which led to a broader understanding of the causation of pollution in Sydney, allowing the government to form appropriate responses to the pollution.[369]

Australian cities are some of the most car dependent cities in the world.[370] Sydney in particular has a very high level of car dependency,[371] especially by world city standards. It also has a low level of mass-transit services, with a historically low-density layout and significant urban sprawl, thus increasing the likelihood of car dependency.[372][373] Strategies have been implemented to reduce private vehicle pollution by encouraging mass and public transit,[374] initiating the development of high density housing and introducing a fleet of 10 new Nissan LEAFelectric cars, the largest order of the pollution-free vehicle in Australia.[375] Electric cars do not produce carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide, gases which contribute to climate change.[376][377]Cycling trips have increased by 113% across Sydney's inner-city since March 2010, with about 2,000 bikes passing through top peak-hour intersections on an average weekday.[378] Transport developments in the north-west and east of the city have been designed to encourage the use of Sydney's expanding public transportation system.

The City of Sydney became the first council in Australia to achieve formal certification as carbon-neutral in 2008.[379][380] The city has reduced its 2007 carbon emissions by 6% and since 2006 has reduced carbon emissions from city buildings by up to 20%.[378][381] The City of Sydney introduced a Sustainable Sydney 2030 program, with various targets planned and a comprehensive guide on how to reduce energy in homes and offices within Sydney by 30%.[378][382] Reductions in energy consumption have slashed energy bills by $30 million a year.[383]Solar panels have been established on many CBD buildings in an effort to minimise carbon pollution by around 3,000 tonnes a year.[384]

The city also has an "urban forest growth strategy", in which it aims to regular increase the tree coverage in the city by frequently planting trees with strong leaf density and vegetation to provide cleaner air and create moisture during hot weather, thus lowering city temperatures.[385] Sydney has also become a leader in the development of green office buildings and enforcing the requirement of all building proposals to be energy-efficient. The One Central Park development, completed in 2013, is an example of this implementation and design.[386][387][388][389]

Obtaining sufficient fresh water was difficult during early colonial times. A catchment called the Tank Stream sourced water from what is now the CBD but was little more than an open sewer by the end of the 1700s.[390] The Botany Swamps Scheme was one of several ventures during the mid 1800s that saw the construction of wells, tunnels, steam pumping stations, and small dams to service Sydney's growing population.[390]

The first genuine solution to Sydney's water demands was the Upper Nepean Scheme which came into operation in 1886 and cost over £2 million. It transports water 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Nepean, Cataract, and Cordeaux rivers and continues to service about 15% of Sydney's total water needs.[390] Dams were built on these three rivers between 1907 and 1935.[390] In 1977 the Shoalhaven Scheme brought several more dams into service.[391]

The two distributors which maintain Sydney's electricity infrastructure are Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy.[394][395] Their combined networks include over 815,000 power poles and 83,000 kilometres (52,000 miles) of electricity cables.

Sydney maintains sister city and friendship city relations with numerous global cities. These were established to form links of friendship, cultural understanding, inter-community relations, and to develop closer economic ties. Sydney is officially affiliated with:[396]

^"Modelling and simulation of seasonal rainfall"(PDF). Centre for Computer Assisted Research Mathematics and its Applications (CARMA). 20 May 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2016. Brisbane and Sydney each have a humid sub-tropical or temperate climate with no pronounced dry season...the classification is Cfa

^"Sydney winter not snow, just hail". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2013. Mr Zmijewski doubted the 1836 snow report, saying weather observers of the era lacked the expertise of today. "We are almost in the sub-tropics in Sydney", he said.

^Duyker, Edward, and York, Barry (1994) Exclusions and admissions : the Dutch in Australia, 1902–1946 Canberra : Centre for Immigration and Multicultural Studies, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.

^Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs 2003, Report of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

^IPCC, "Summary for Policymakers", Detection and Attribution of Climate Change, «It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century» (page 15) and «In this Summary for Policymakers, the following terms have been used to indicate the assessed likelihood of an outcome or a result: (...) extremely likely: 95–100%» (page 2)., in IPCC AR5 WG1 2013.